Door fastener



Sept. 29, 1942. LOUNSBURY 2,297,007

' DOOR FASTENER Filed Aug. 10, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l lmgi 26 ffimfl Harvey JIawzabzuy By 2w Sept 1942- H. J. LOUNSBURY' 2,297,007

DOOR FASTENER Filed Aug. 10, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 B9 a may Patented Sept. 29, 1942 UNITED TES PTET OFFICE DOOR FASTENER Harvey J. Lounsbury, Glen Ellyn, 111., assignor to W. H. Miner, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in door fasteners, especially adapted for double hinged doors of refrigerator cars.

One object of the invention is to provide a door fastener comprising a rotary operating bar mounted on a swinging door and having keeper engaging crank ends cooperating with keepers mounted on the car wall adjacent the door opening, wherein the parts are so designed that they may be cheaply and economically manufactured and may be readily combined in the complete device to provide a strong and rugged construction having bearing portions properly and truly aligned to efficiently cooperate with the bearing brackets b which the mechanism is supported on the door and assure free rotation Without any possibility of binding in said bearing brackets.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door fastener of the character set forth in the preceding paragraph wherein the operating bar is in the form of a truly cylindrical tube providing truly cylindrical bearing means at opposite ends to properly cooperate with the supporting brackets on the door, and wherein the keeper engaging crank members are securely joined to the operating bar by providing shank portions thereon which are telescoped within the ends of the tube and welded thereto.

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from the description and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification Figure 1 is a front elevational View of a pair of vertically disposed hinged doors of a refrigerator car, illustrating my improvements in connection therewith. Figure 2 is an enlarged elevational view of a portion of the operating bar of the door fastener illustrated in Figure 1, the view being taken at the operating handle lever of the device, and the bar being shown rotated to a position through 180 from the position shown in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line 3-3 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through the lower bearing bracket for the operating bar shown in Figure l and corresponding substantially to the line 4-4 of Figure 5. Figure 5 is a front elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 4. Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view, corresponding substantiall to the line 6-45 of Figure 4.

In the drawings, II] designates the side wall member of a refrigerator car having a door opening I I therein, which is closed by a pair of hinged door members I2 and I3. Each door member is provided with the usual hinges I4I4-I4 along the vertical outer edges thereof by which the doors are swingingly supported. The door I2, which is that first closed, and the door I3 have meeting edges which are beveled, as is well-known in this art, the inclination of the bevel being such that the door I3 will maintain the door I2 in closed position and wedge the same shut when the fastener mechanism is actuated. As usual, the edges of the two doors and the cooperating edges of the door frame are provided with insulating packing material, not shown.

My improved door fastener mechanism proper comprises broadly: a tubular operating or locking bar A; a pair of end members B-B; an operating handle lever C; bearing brackets D-D;

and a pair of keepers E-E.

The bar A is in the form of an elongated tube or pipe which is of truly cylindrical exterior own tour.

Each of the end members B-B comprises a cylindrical shank or shaft portion I5 and a crank portion It at the outer end of the shaft portion. The shank portion I5 is telescoped within the corresponding end of the tube A and welded thereto, as indicated at I'I-I'I and I8. The tube A is preferably provided with a plurality of openings I9--I9 therethrough to receive the welding fillet which is fused into said opening and to the shank I5. Lugs are in effect thus provided which are integral with the shank I5 and extend into the openings of the tube A and are welded to said tube. The welded joint I8 is in the form of a ring or collar of metal surrounding the shank I5 of the end member B and filling the space between the outer end of the tube A and the crank arm of the keeper engaging end member, the metal of the welded joint being fused with the end of the tube and the shank I5. As will be understood, my invention is not limited to the precise welded joints illustrated in the drawings, it being within the scope of the invention to spot weld the shank I5 of the keeper engaging member to the tube A.

The end members B-B, which are welded to the top and bottom ends of the tube A, project beyond the top and bottom edges of the door and cooperate with the keepers E-E in the usual manner to force the door open or closed.

The bearing brackets D-D are mounted on the door I3 adjacent the top and bottom edges of the same and support the tubular bar A for rotary movement. Each bracket D is of two part construction, comprising a block 20 and a strap 2| overlying the block. The block 20 and the projecting lugs 2424 of the strap 2 I. The parts" of the bearing bracket are held assembled andsecured to the door by bolts or similar securing elements extending through the lugs 23- and 24 of said block and strap.

As will be evident upon reference to Figures 4 and 5, the tubular bar A has direct bearing engagement with the interior bearing surfaces of both the upper and lower bearing brackets DD' substantially throughout the vertical heights of said bearing surfaces. The welded portions !1l'l of the bar A are disposed in the opening between the top and bottom bearing faces 2222 of the bracket D. The portions of the tubular member A which contact these bearing faces 22-22 are thus left smooth and true. In this connection it is pointed out that inasmuch as the bar A is in the form of a tube or pipe of true cylindrical, exterior contour a perfect bearing is provided between each end section of the tube and the corresponding bearing bracket. Further, the bar A being in the form of a fabricated pipe or tube, straightness of the bar with consequent true axial alinement of the bearing portions at the top and bottom ends thereof is assured.

The keepers E'-E are of similar design except as hereinafter pointed out. Each keeper is in the form of a casting secured to the door frame. The castings EE are provided with guide or cam slots 2525 with which the crank members l6 of the operating bar engage in a well-known manner. These keepers are substantially the same as the keepers disclosed in Patent No. 1,925,234, granted to C. E. Dath, September 5, 1933.

The keeper E at the bottom of the door opening has an extended portion, indicated by 26, on which a pivoted, latch finger 21 is supported, which engages the lower right hand corner of the door I2, as viewed in Figure l, to hold the door in position when closed,..a wear plate 28 preferably being employed at the lower corner end of the door with which the latch finger 21 cooperates.

The operating handle lever C, which is employed to eifectrotation of the bar A comprises an arm 29 having a hand. grip portion 30 at the outer end thereof. At the inner end, the arm 29 is pivotally supported for swinging movement in a vertical plane between the arms 3I3l of the forked bracket 32, a rivet 3 3v extending through the arms 31-3! of the bracket and the inner end of the arm 29 serving to swingingly mount the latter. The bracket 32 has a Vertical opening 34 therethrough which accommodates the tube A. Thebracket 32 is fixed to the tube A in any suitable manner, being preferably welded thereto. To provide a rugged welded connection the bracket is welded to the outer side of the tube by collars of metal 35-35 at the top and bottom of said bracket, the collars of welding metal forming fillets which are fused to the tube or pipe and the upper and lower edges of the bracket where the latter surrounds the tube.

To provide additional rigidity the bracket is also welded to the tube by a fillet of metal 36 accommodated in a slot 31 provided in the side of the bracket and extending entirely through the wall thereof, this fillet of metal being fused to the bracket and tube.

The operating handle lever C is adapted to be looked as shown in Figure 1 by any suitable locking device, as indicated at 38, and sealed in any suitable manner customary in connection with railway cars.

In closing or opening the door I3 the bar is rotated in the usual'manner, thereby operating the keeper engaging crank members to cam the door either inwardly or outwardly as is well known. The pivotal connection of the handle lever 29 with the bracket 32 permits the lever to be dropped to pendant out of the way position when desired.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out my invention, but the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications thatv come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a fastener for hinged doors, the combination with a tubular cylindrical operating bar; of elongated bearing brackets on the door at the top and bottom ends thereof for rotatably mounting the bar, each bracket having its bearing portions spaced vertically one above the other; and keeper engaging crank members at opposite ends of the bar, each crank member having a shank telescopedv within the corresponding end of the bar'- and welded. thereto at a. point between and removed-from the upper and. lower bearing portions of each bracket.

2. In a fastener for; hinged doors, the combination with top and bottom bearing brackets mounted on the door, each of said brackets having vertically disposed cylindrical bearings at the top and bottom ends thereof providing bearing openings, saidv openings being vertically aligned and concentric, each of said brackets being of an internal diameter between the bearings thereof greater than the diameters of the openings provided by said bearings; of a cylindrical tubular bar extending through said brackets and journaled in the bearings of the latter, said bar being or uniform diameter throughout its length; .andkeeper engaging crank members at opposite ends of said. bar having cylindrical shank portions telescopecl Within the ends of said bar, said shank portions being. secured to said. bar at zones embraced. within the portions of said brackets which are of said greater internal diameter.

HARVEY J. LOUNSBURY. 

